Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Feb. 28, 2026, and Feb. 21, 2026, rose 1.6% and 10.7%, respectively.
U.S. Class I railroads moved 514,996 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending March 7, 2026, AAR reported March 11. Total carloads came in at 231,889, up 5.7%, and intermodal volume was 283,107 containers and trailers, up 1.8% from the same week last year.
For the week ending March 7, 2026, eight of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2025. They included coal, up 4,464 carloads, to 62,480; grain, up 3,656 carloads, to 25,313; and chemicals, up 1,378 carloads, to 34,464. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2025 were nonmetallic minerals, down 297 carloads, to 28,142; and forest products, down 117 carloads, to 8,068.
For the first nine weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,994,393 carloads, a 5.5% increase from the prior-year period; and 2,474,208 intermodal units, a 0.7% fall-off from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first nine weeks of 2026 was 4,468,601 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.0% compared with last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending March 7, 2026, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 337,025 carloads, up 4.6% from the same week last year, and 371,354 intermodal units, up 3.7% from last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America came in at 708,379 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.1%. North American rail volume for the first nine weeks of this year was 6,150,558 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.7% from 2025.
Canadian railroads reported 91,046 carloads for the week ending March 7, 2026, down 0.1%, and 73,037 intermodal units, up 3.5% compared with the same week last year. For the first nine weeks of 2026, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 1,438,199 carloads, containers, and trailers, up 2.4%.
Mexican railroads reported 14,090 carloads for the week ending March 7, 2026, rising 21.2% from the same point last year, and 15,210 intermodal units, up 56.9%. Their cumulative volume for the first nine weeks of this year came in at 243,758 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, increasing 19.1% from the same point last year.
